Always
by eternalstelena
Summary: 4x23 rewrite. What if Elena chose Stefan instead of Damon? One shot.


_Pain._

 _Loneliness._

 _Anger._

 _Happiness._

 _Love._

 _Confusion._

So many emotions to feel in such a short amount of time, and Elena had felt them all. She remembered being annoyed, and so angry, they were trying to turn her humanity on again. But then they cracked her, they managed to find something they could use and they used the hell out of it. When she felt the first flood of emotion coming in she wanted to die, she wanted to take a stake and end her life.

But then there was Stefan, always her hero. He helped her through it, he helped calm her and he helped her get in touch with her humanity again. He told her to focus on one thing, and even though it probably wasn't wise of her, she chose to focus on her rage towards Katherine.

Then she felt anger, so much anger. But once again Stefan was there to help her, until she finally let it all back in. She felt guilty, so guilty, but she didn't have time to focus on the guilt. For some reason all the ghosts in Mystic Falls were having a party, and this was Elena's only chance to see Alaric and Jeremy again.

As she sat with them all of her focus should have been on her family, but it wasn't. She couldn't stop thinking about Stefan and Damon, she had played them both for too long and now it was time to make her choice.

Her nights with Damon had been wild, consuming and adventurous, but she found herself wondering if she wanted that. It was fun and thrilling, but it was more like a one time ride you rode just for the adrenaline rush. Whilst it was happening it was fun, it had many twists and it was exciting, but as soon as it was over it wasn't something you felt the need to do again. It was all consuming, but her life was too hectic to be consumed by something that much.

Then there's Stefan, oh Stefan. He was gentle, and caring, but also passionate. Maybe they wouldn't spend weeks wrapped up in bed together, or maybe as vampires they would, she had yet to explore their vampire relationship. But the sex was good, no it was better then good. But he was safe, not her safe option, but safe. He made her feel loved, protected and valued. She couldn't help but wonder if her and Damon would even last, when faced with a problem Damon just told her to turn it off, but she knew Stefan would have helped her get through it.

She had the chance to explore 2 new and exciting relationships, yet she didn't know which to choose. With Damon it would be all new, it would be seeing how their relationship would look like. But with Stefan it would be familiar, yet very different. They could explore their vampire side of the relationship, and Elena had to bite her lip when she thought about the sex they could have now.

Sex with Stefan had always been amazing, he knew just what to do to make her scream all night, he would pleasure her so much that it would blind her, and she couldn't help but wonder what that would feel like intensified. He no longer had to hold back, she wasn't a dainty human who could break. She was a vampire, and he could use all of his neat vampire tricks on her without worrying about hurting her.

She hadn't had the pleasure of having sex with Stefan as a vampire yet, every time the mood striked it seemed as it something got in the way. Then she made the biggest mistake of her life, she slept with Damon.

No, she couldn't call it a mistake. It happened, and if it never happened she would have spent the rest of her eternal life wondering what it would be like to be with Damon. But it did happen, and now the answer was perfectly clear in her mind.

She loved Damon, she did, but she could never love someone the way she loves Stefan.

She wanted Stefan.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Stefan laughed as he and Lexi danced the morning away, and by dancing he means swinging his arms around. Everyone who knew Stefan knew that this was the closest he would ever come to dancing, he wasn't a dancer. The only times he had ever danced was to make Elena happy, and he loved making her happy.

He was trying to focus all of his attention onto Lexi, because who knew how long this little ghost party would last. He didn't know if he would ever see her again after this ended, so he was trying to make sure he savoured everything moment.

But something else was on the back of his mind. Or should he say someone.

 _Elena._

He knew what was coming, it was time for her to make her choice. They had been too busy dealing with the cure to focus on their Dawson's Creek drama, and then there was the whole problem of Elena turning her humanity off. But now it was time for her to make her choice, and he felt like he was going to die.

He wanted to say that he would be fine if Elena chose Damon, but he wouldn't. When they broke up he felt his heart break, when he heard she slept with Damon he felt Elena burying his heart deep down where no one could ever find it again. But when she turned off her humanity, when he had to see her completely lose herself, he felt something inside of him break.

He didn't know why he still held out hope, to him it was obvious she was going to pick Damon. Why would she sleep with him otherwise, clearly her feelings are stronger for him. But then he would remember something she said when her switch was flipped, something that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

 _'Maybe Stefan and I will give it another go.'_

He knew that was only a emotionless Elena trying to hurt Damon, but it must mean she still had some feelings for him.

He couldn't think about this now. He had a graduation to attend.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Graduation was fun, well, as fun as an event in Mystic Falls can be. Of course there was the drama, the murder and bloodshed, but it wouldn't be a party if at least one person didn't die.

Elena walked into the Salvatore House, knowing exactly where she needed to be. She had two destinations for tonight, and she had spent all day finalising her choice.

First she was going to see Damon, who she could hear having a drink in the lounge. She couldn't wait to tell Stefan that she wanted to be with him, the anticipation of would what happen next was killing her, but she had to see Damon first. It wouldn't be fair to him to overhear her telling Stefan she still loved him, she at least owed him an apology first.

She walked into the room to see him stood by the fireplace and she almost felt heartbroken once she saw the hopeful look in his eyes.

"Hey." He smiled, and Elena forced herself to return it.

"Hey." She repeated, suddenly feeling awkward.

"Some day huh." He spoke, and Elena wanted to be anywhere but here, but she knew she had to do it.

"We need to talk Damon." Elena whispered, preparing herself to break his heart.

"Let me guess, you're here to say something along the lines of 'I love you, but it's always going to be Stefan'." Damon sarcastically spoke, and Elena winced, knowing how much she was going to hurt him.

"I don't regret the nights we spent together, and I care about you, but it wouldn't be fair of me to keep this act going." Elena told him.

"What act? I love you, you love me. We have something good Elena, please don't do this." Damon almost begged, and Elena hated seeing him so vulnerable. If this was 2 years ago Elena would have loved to see a vulnerable side to Damon, it would have ensured her that he actually had feelings, but now she wished she could take his vulnerabilities away.

"You deserve someone who wants what you want Damon, you deserve to love someone with so much passion that it takes over your whole body. You deserve to feel wild and free, and to have somebody to share that feeling with Damon. The idea of all that sounds great, but it's not what I want." Elena replied, she could see that Damon was thinking of a reply.

"And what do you want? A boring relationship with stability?" Damon asked and Elena winced, knowing he was talking about Stefan. She never did like it when he insulted his younger brother.

"People may not see this, but I have all that with Stefan." Elena began, not knowing why she was telling him this. She just wanted to make him feel better, and maybe an explanation would do that. "Maybe Stefan wouldn't randomly throw me against the fireplace and take me, but I love him with so much passion that it consumed me. We weren't dangerous, we weren't wild, but it was passionate and consuming. He's what I want." She told him. She thought back to the time when Stefan was locked in the tomb with Katherine, and how much she missed him all day. It was like a part of her was missing, and she didn't think she could survive feeling like that for the rest of eternity.

"Don't you love me?" Damon asked.

"Oh no I do, I do love you Damon." Elena assured him.

"But it wasn't enough." He muttered, making Elena lower her head.

"I don't think it would be fair to you, being with you whilst knowing I could never love you the way I love your brother." Elena told him, and Damon didn't respond. Elena pulled out the little box, knowing what she was about to do was risky, but she needed to do it. "I want you to take the cure. I know you told me you could never imagine being human, so I'm not giving it to you with the intentions of you taking it now, but I would like to know that one day you meet a girl who loves in the same way you do, and you'll be able to settle down for a life with her." Elena handed him the box.

"I can't take this, we only found this cure for you." Damon told her.

"I know it sounds crazy, but I don't need to take the cure anymore. I want to travel the world, I want to see every beautiful place each city has to offer. I want to fall in love with the culture, and I want to spend the rest of my eternal life with my friends and the person I love." Elena replied. Sure she couldn't have kids, or a family, but she had only just started to realise how awesome being a vampire was. She couldn't throw away this feeling before she ever truly felt it.

Elena could see Damon was thinking it over, so she decided it was probably best to leave before he had chance to reject it. "This isn't a goodbye Damon, one day I hope to see you in the streets of Rome, with that same smug smirk on your face. I'm sorry for hurting you, and I'm sorry for leading you on, but I hope in a few years time we'll all be able to get together for a drink. You deserve a good life Damon, go ahead and live it." Elena spoke, and then walked out of the lounge. It was time to find Stefan, and spend the rest of her life with the man she loved.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Stefan slowly sipped his beer as Lexi lounged on the chair next to him. He was currently brooding, something he knew how to do best. He heard Elena come in and go in search for Damon, and he figured she was going to tell him that she chose him. So he opened a beer, and drank as he chose to listen to the music instead of their conversation.

He figured by now Damon and Elena would be in a bedroom upstairs, celebrating their new relationship, so he was surprised as hell when he saw Elena walk into the room.

"Hey Stefan, can we talk?" Elena asked, and suddenly Stefan's hopes were back up.

"Sure." He replied. He looked over towards Lexi for a brief second, who looked like she knew something he didn't, then followed Elena into the hall. "So what's up?" He asked.

Elena took a deep breath and focus on her hands and she figured out what she was going to say. She didn't know if she should apologise, tell him she loved him, or just rip his suit off and fuck him right here. But she decided to go with the first option.

"These past few weeks I've been so stupid, and I've never felt less like myself. I completely lost the idea of who I was and who I used to be, and I did some things that I don't regret but I'm not exactly proud of." Elena began, and Stefan looked at her curiously. "I know I hurt you, badly, and that's the worst thing I think I've ever done, and lately I've been doing a lot of bad things. I know this sounds like bullshit, but it was never my intention to hurt you. I don't regret sleeping with Damon though, because now I know what I want." Elena spoke.

Stefan knew what was coming, she was going to tell him she loved Damon. "Elena I don't want to hear this." Stefan began, but Elena cut him off.

"I never stopped loving you Stefan, even after everything you're the person I need. Whenever I think of love, your face comes into my mind. You're exactly what I want, and what I'll always want. I may have gotten lost, but I'll always find my way back to you. If I could do this all over again, I never would have left you on that porch that day. You're my dream Stefan Salvatore, and I want to start this new life with you. I want to explore, I want to love, I want to feel my desire, I want to discover what this new vampirism has to offer us. I just want you, and I would really like it if you would want me too." Elena admitted, and Stefan was silent for a while.

She loved him. She chose him. She still loved him. He felt like he couldn't breathe, his mind was on fire and the only thing that could put it out was her. He didn't know what words he could say, so he did something that he had wanted to do for a while now. He grabbed her and he kissed her with so much passion it almost swept her off her feet.

They didn't stop kissing that night, not as they walked up the stairs and tumbled into his bedroom, not as they shred their clothes and flung themselves down onto the bed. Not as they made love, slowly at first and then roughly with dangerous passion later. Not as they snuggled into each other, both feeling at ease. And they didn't stop kissing for the rest of their eternal lives.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Damon sighed as he parked his car next to the small river. Once again, he had lost the girl. Him and Stefan made a deal, whoever was the loser would pack up their things and leave town, so here he was, standing with one cure to vampirism and one safe with a thousand year old witch in it.

He took this moment to look across at the river, allowing himself to wonder what he might find in the next life he builds for himself, until he heard some creaking and rustling.

He turned around, and was very confused when he was met with his brothers face.

"Stefan?" Damon spoke, clearly shocked. "What have you come to rub it in that you won the girl, shouldn't you be rolling around in the sheets with her by now. God knows I would." Damon smirked, expecting Stefan to get angry. But instead Stefan looked smug, and walked closer towards him.

"Always so bitter Damon, I can see why Elena would choose your brother over you." Stefan, or at least who he thought was Stefan, spoke.

"What are you talking about?" Damon asked, confused.

"God you people really are dumb, I always have to spell everything out for you." The man wearing Stefan's face rolled his eyes.

"Silas?" Damon asked in horror, this wasn't supposed to be happening.

"Finally! It only took you 10 minutes." Silas spoke, then suddenly eyed the box in Damon's hand. "Ooh this should be fun." He smiled smugly, then suddenly grabbed the cure so fast that Damon didn't even have time to think about taking it back. "I should just take this now, and I'll have what I want, but what's the fun in that. The next time I see you you're going to be a weak, pathetic, human making your brothers life hell, and when you see my face again you make sure you know that I'm coming for what's mine." Silas spoke, so sinisterly that it could put every other villain to shame.

Damon was about to ask what the hell he was talking about when suddenly the cure was being shoved into his mouth. Damon choked and fell to the ground as he felt the liquid dripping down his throat. The last thing he saw before he closed his eyes was the guy wearing his brothers face looking down at him with an evil glimmer in his eyes, and Damon knew they were in for one hell of a ride. And not a fun, all consuming one either.

 **A/N: So this is just a little one shot I wrote late at night. I've never seen a fic with the idea of a season 4 finale rewrite, which is why I wanted to write one myself. Elena should have obviously chose Stefan, so I made it happen. I left the end on a little cliffhanger there, because after all what's a tvd finale without a shocking ending. I also left it open in case I ever wanted to write a season 5 rewrite, but I doubt that.**

 **I already have a few stories to focus on, and I can't focus on another. And if you read any of my other stories I have a few updates! So about 'A Gloomy Hope' all I'm going to say is, don't expect me to update as much as I did with Summer Love. I love this new story idea, but it's going to be a story I probably update twice a month. Just because I need some time away from writing to get some inspiration.**

 **Also I've been writing another story, I won't spoil but it's another kinda soft one, and I was wondering do you want me to post the chapters I have now or just wait and post them once I finish the story? I have 10 chapters so far. Leave a review and let me know what you think.**


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